Manuel: Basketball fanatic, doting father, master angler

Tom Manuel, challenger for District 4 St. Johns County Commission, laughs when anyone calls him a "master angler." He's not, though he does love fishing.

"I went shrimping with my son this weekend," he said. "I caught one shrimp."

Manuel, 61, of Julington Creek, is a former member of the Planning & Zoning Agency who is trying to unseat incumbent Commissioner Bruce Maguire in a race that has become increasingly caustic, despite the fact that both are lifelong Republicans.

Manuel says he is running to control runaway growth in St. Johns County.

He likes to tell campaign audiences that he'll bring a lot of heart to the job -- a light reference to his real heart transplant several years ago.

Like Maguire, Manuel served his country as a military pilot. Manuel spent his hitch in the Navy, being named a Distinguished Naval Graduate. Maguire retired after 21 years in the Air Force.

Manuel retired from Chemical Bank of New York -- where he made it to senior vice president -- and careers operating casinos, resorts and a travel company. He's now "occasionally" hired as a financial consultant, he said.

"I read a lot," he said of his personal time. "Right now I'm reading Dan Brown's 'Deception Point.' I'm a basketball fanatic and like being married."

His wife, Terry, is a registered nurse in the liver transplant unit of Mayo Clinic.

(Don't try asking for a discount coupon. They've heard that a million times.)

His wife and high-school-age daughter stood by his side during a heated press conference organized last week that accused him of having an "association" with a Las Vegas casino owner who had ties to organized crime. No one knows who organized that event and it hasn't yet shown up on any campaign financial reports.

Manuel denies any accusations of wrong-doing, saying the press conference was a politically motivated smear.

His children range from an 8-year-old third grader at Julington Creek Elementary School, to a 35-year-old son who is in the environmental cleanup industry. In between are a daughter who's a sophomore in high school, another daughter who's a junior at Tulane University, a son, 28, who has a master's degree in education and is currently playing professional basketball in Europe, and a 30-year-old son who works in executive recruiting.

Manuel said he is proud of his endorsements by former county commissioners Nick Meiszer and Mary Kohnke and by the Sierra Club.

"One of the requirements of the law is to maintain the environment," he said.

But not everyone is charmed by Manuel's candidacy.

Don House of Ponte Vedra Beach said Tuesday that Manuel "didn't vote the law during his term on the Planning and Zoning Agency. He was running for office. He's wanted to run for County Commission ever since he got to St. Johns County."

Manuel said he's heard that accusation before.

"A county attorney sits in front of the board during every PZA meeting," he said. "If I was not following the law, he would have corrected me."

House said Manuel was "forceful, vociferous and disruptive. If he didn't get his way, he would mutter and interrupt. He's very smart, but his motives are misdirected. In order for things to change in an orderly, progressive fashion, you have to have rules. He wanted to make his own laws."

Another picture emerges if you talk to Walter Rohrer, a Ponte Vedra Beach resident who worked hard but unsuccessfully to stop the county's $28 million purchase of the Ponte Vedra utility St. Johns Service Co.

"Tom and I have never worked together and I only know him since he was considering running in this campaign," Rohrer said. "But he's forceful, smart and has a lot of energy. He'll do a good job. He's handled the (personal) attacks well, sort of fending them off with a mixture of sarcasm and grace."

Click here to read other political articles and features, including video interviews with candidates.